An epic four-quarterback season is worth celebrating
Peering over the foam atop my pint of Guinness at the Fourth Bore play off watch party, I took in the one-game-shy-of-the-state-title football matchup between the 8-6 Miramonte Matadors and the 12-2 Calaveras Red Hawks.
We knew going in it was going to be a tough game, but dang, misfortune is a tenacious badger.
At kickoff we had a game plan to go to battle with our third-string sophomore quarterback Lane Dalton, who had done a heck of a job jumping in and leading the team to victory in the last three games.
He had been elevated from junior varsity to fill in for hand-surgery-bound Charlie Metherd, who was filling in for the team’s most valuable player, all-league senior and superstar Carson Blair, out with a broken collarbone.
So, of course, what happens? Bam! In the first 93 seconds of the game, third-stringer Dalton goes down with a hamstring injury while running up the right sidelines.
Dang it.
Coach Nick Safir, no stranger to adversity, promptly trots out number four on the list, freshman Gus Millstone – who airs out the ball straight away, leading to a touchdown.
Outstanding.
Okay, maybe we can still do this, I’m thinking.
High hopes of winning against adversity because, well, we’ve done it so many times before this season, like the Las Lomas game, and the North Coast Section title match against Hayward.
Overcoming adversity seemed to have become the theme for the year.
But it wasn’t to be. The relentless ground-pounding run game of the Red Hawks was impressive. Both in size and repetitiveness. As fearlessly as our defense took them on, 145-pound cornerbacks versus 230-pound running backs is a tough physics equation on any chalkboard.
Mats: 7; Red Hawks: 35
Our Matadors played with such heart. All season, not just in this semi-final bowl game.
The incredible vigor of seniors like David Roman in the secondary, defensive end Andrew Bjornson, James Rogers playing everywhere, and Justin Jalowiec and Charlie Hwang at linebacker will be dearly missed.
But I see a very strong, healthy season on the horizon for 2026. I’d circle in green pen George Gilbert and Jonah Imberg as the superstars of tomorrow. And supported by an experienced line and a very good young quarterback at the helm.
After this year, after four quarterbacks, after an NCS title …
I’m thinking Campo is going down in ‘26. Make room in the trophy case now.
Andrew Bjornson made every effort to get across the goal line after catching a pass from Miramonte’s fourth quarterback of the season (freshman Gus Millstone) but came up just short. The Mats did score on the next play against Calaveras, but their season ended with a defeat in the NorCal title game.